Process fob removing greasy de



Patented July 9, 1946 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PROCESS FOR REMOVING GREASY DE- POSITS FROM CONCRETE, WOOD, AND

TILE SURFACES No Drawing. Application May 6, 1942, Serial No. 441,994

This invention relates to a \process for removrough and porous nature of the concrete SUI.

faces, adhere tenaciously to the floors and are exceedingly difiicult to remove; however, it is highly undesirable to permit them to remain on the floors since they tend to accumulate and thus render the garage floors extremely slippery and unsightly in appearance. Hence, for some time there has been a demand for an effective garage floor cleaner.

A satisfactory garage floor cleaner must be capable of cutting the greasy deposit on the floor so as to loosen the grease and remove the 1116-- .posit, together with the "dirt incorporated therewith, from the concrete surface; furthermore, a

satisfactory cleaner should vbe such .that after application thereof to the garage floor, removal thereof together with they grease and dirt'may be accomplished by simply flushing the floor with The cleaner should also be chemically water. To .our knowledge inert toward the concrete.

" no materialsatisfying these requirements has as yet been provided. The use of alkaline detergents such as soap, soda and the like has proved unsatisfactory since excessive scrubbin is required before they effectively cut the greasy deposit. Organic solvents capable of dissolving the grease also do not fill the above requirements since they are almost universally insoluble in water, so that they cannot be successfully removed from the floor by flushing with water, and since they generally, are inflammable and, hence, present a certain fire hazard on use.

The above discussion also applies to the removal of greasy deposit from surfaces such as wood and tile which may become soiled therewith since suchdeposits frequently adhere tenaciously to the soiled surfaces and cannot be satisfactorily removed with alkaline detergents or organic solvents for reasons above mentioned.

It is an object of this invention to provide a 7' Claims. (01. 252 161)' process for effectively removing greasy deposits from surfaces soiled therewith.

It is a more specific object of this invention to provide an efiective garage floor cleaner capable 5 of cutting greasy deposits on concrete garage floors and of removing the deposits thus treated from the floors by flushing with water.

We have made the surprising discovery that greasy deposits on surfaces soiled therewith may be effectively removed by contacting the deposits with a composition comprising o-dichlorbenzene containing dissolved therein a substantially saltfree water-soluble alkyl mononuclear aromatic sulfonate detergent, the alkyl side chain of which contains between 12 and 30 carbon atoms, and then flushing the deposits from the surfaces with water. We have found that our novel compositions cut the greasy deposits easily without excessive scrubbing, thereby quickly disengaging the grease and dirt from the soiled surfaces in spite of the tenacious adherence normally displayed by such deposits;-furthermore, our compositions are readily emulsifiable in water so that they may be washed from the surfaces by merely flushing with water. The compositions of our invention .are readily fluid. and may be applied to the greasy deposits by spraying in undiluted'form or emulsified in from one to ten times their weight in water; if a particularly heavy greasy deposit is to be removed, we prefer to use our compositions in substantially undiluted form. Our compositions arenot inflammableso thatno fire hazard ispresented by their use. They are, therefore, .preeminently suited for removing greasy deposits from surfaces soiled therewith and are particularly adapted for removing such deposits from concrete garage floors.

In preparing the compositions employed in our invention, a substantially salt-free water-soluble alkyl mononuclear aromatic sulfonate, the alkyl side chain of which contains between 12 and 30 carbon atoms, or a mixture of such substances, may be employed. Preferably, mixtures of such sulfonates are employed, obtainable by chlorinating a petroleum hydrocarbon mixture having an average carbon content of between 12 and 30 carbon atoms per molecule, e. g. kerosene or a paraflln oil of the type commercially known .as

white oil,f condensing the chlorinated hydrocarbon with a mononuclear aromatic compound, such as benzene or phenol, in the presence of aluminum chloride, sulionating the mixture ofzalkyl aryl compounds thus produced to obtain a mixture of alkyl aryl sulfonic acids, neutralizing the 55 alkyl aryl sulfonic acids thus obtained to form a water-soluble alkyl aryl sulfonate mixture, and separating the bulk of the inorganic sulfates from the alkyl aryl sulfonates thus obtained in any suitable manner such as, for example, by extracting the sulfonates with alcohol to produce a substantially salt-free sulfonate detergent. Substantially salt-free alkyl aryl sulfonates, the alkyl side chains of which are derived from a petroleum source, are particularly suitable for use in our invention since the nature of their side chains makes them readily soluble and compatible with o-dichlorbenzene. Alkyl aryl sulfonates of the type described are readily soluble in o-dichlorbenzene to the extent of about 25%.

The amount of the substantially salt-free sulfonated detergent dissolved in the o-dichlorbenzene may vary considerably since solutions containing between about 1% and about 25% of the detergent have been found suitable; preferably, the compositions used in accordance with our invention contain approximately of the sulfonated detergent. As hereinabove pointed out, the compositions may be applied to the greasy deposits to be removed in substantially undiluted form, particularly when exceedingly heavy greasy deposits are to be removed. However, since we have found emulsions of the above compositions are also effective in removing greasy deposits from soiled surfaces, these compositions may be applied in the form of emulsions containing one to ten times their weight of water.

Application of the compositions of our invention to the greasy deposits to be removed may be accomplished in any suitable manner, such as, for

example, by spraying. These compositions are permitted to remain in contact with the greasy deposits for a time sufficient to cut the grease and thereby disengage it, together with the dirt accumulated therewith, from the soiled surface; ordinarily between about one and about ten minutes of contact are suitable to effect this disengagement. At the end of this time the cleaner may be removed from the surface, together with the greasy deposits, by merely flushing the surface with water by means of a hose or in any other suitable manner, since the cleaner emulsifies the grease and dirt in the water and thereby permits substantially complete removal thereof. A preferred embodiment of this invention involves the use of our compositions for the removal of greasy deposits from concrete garage floors since the properties of our compositions, as set forth above, are such that such deposits may be removed with particular facility, thus satisfying the demand for an effective cleaner for this purpose.

The following example is illustrative of our invention:

A composition containing 90% odichlorbenzene and 10% of a substantially salt-free alkyl mononuclear aromatic sodium sulfonate, th alkyl side chain of which is derived from kerosene, was sprayed on a greasy concrete garage floor and permitted to remain in contact therewith for five minutes. At the end of this time the material was removed by flushing with water, whereby the grease was substantially completely removed from the concrete floor.

From the above description it will be evident that our invention provides an eillcient and practical method of removing greasy deposits from surfaces soiled therewith, particularly from concrete surfaces such as garage floors. In view of the ease with which our invention may be carried out and in view of the economic nature of our compositions, our invention will be of value to those concerned with the removal of such greasy materials.

Since certain changes in carrying out the above process and certain modifications in the compositions which embody the invention may be made without departing from its scope, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

We claim:

1. A process for removing a greasy deposit from a surface soiled therewith selected from the group consisting of concrete, wood and tile surfaces which comprises applying thereto a composition comprising o-dichlorbenzene containing dissolved therein between about 1% and about 25% of a water-soluble alkyl mononuclear aromatic sulfonate detergent substantially free of inorganic salts, the alkyl side chain of which contains between 12 and 30 carbon atoms, and then flushing the greasy deposit from the surface with water.

2. A process for removing a greasy deposit from a surface soiled therewith selected from the group consisting of concrete, wood and tile surfaces which comprises applying thereto a composition comprising o-dichlorbenzene containing dissolved therei between about 1% and about 25% of a water-soluble alkyl mononuclear aromatic sulfonate detergent substantially free of inorganic salts, the alkyl side chain of which is derived from a petroleum source and contains between 12 and 30 carbon atoms, and then flushing th greasy deposit from the surface with water.

3. A process for removing a greasy deposit from a concrete garage floor which comprises applying thereto a composition comprising o-dichlorbenzene containing dissolved therein between about 1% and about 25% of a mixture of watersoluble alkyl mononuclear aromatic sulfonates substantially free of inorganic salts, the alkyl side chains of which are derived from kerosene, and then flushing the greasy deposit from the floor with water.

4. A process for removing a greasy deposit from a concrete garage-floor which comprises applying thereto an aqueous emulsionv of a composition comprising o-dichlorbenzene containing dissolved therein between about 1% and about 25% of a mixture of water-soluble alkyl mononuclear aromatic sulfonates substantially free of inorganic salts, the alkyl side chains of which are derived from kerosene, and then flushing the greasy deposit from the floor with water.

5. A process for removing a greasy deposit from a concrete garage floor which comprises applying thereto a composition comprising o-dichlorbenzene containing dissolved therein between about 1% and about 25% of a mixture of watersoluble alkyl benzene sulfonates substantially free of inorganic salts, the alkyl side chains of which are derived from kerosene, and then flushing the greasy deposit from the floor with water.

6. A process for removing a greasy deposit from a concrete garage floor which comprises applying thereto an aqueous emulsion of a composition comprising o-dichlorbenzene containing dissolved therein between about l% and about 25% of a mixture of water-soluble alkyl benzene sulfonates substantially free of inorganic salts, the alkyl side chains of which are derived from kerosene, and then flushing the greasy deposit from the floor with water.

7. A process for removing a greasy deposit from a surface soiled therewith selected from the group consisting oLconcrete, wood and tile surfaces 5 i s I v which comprises applying thereto a composition from a paraflin oil of the type commercially comprising o-dichlorbenzene containing dissolved known as white oil," and then flushing the therein between about-1% and about 25% or a greasy deposit from the surface with water. water-soluble alkyi mononuclear aromatic sulfonate detergent substantially free of inorganic 5 ROBERT L. REYNOLDS. salts, the alkyl side chain oi. which is derived HARLAN M. RICE. 

